This adorable crocheted Yoshi Egg tutorial comes from my fellow Canadians at Girls on Games. This pattern is for the egg, not the Yoshi (he’s the Amiibo).

From time to time I receive questions about how to get started with knitting or crochet, and my advice is generally 1) ask a friend who crafts or join a community group and 2) Google and YouTube have tutorials on pretty much anything you can imagine. But this is even better! You get step-by-step instructions from Princess Peach herself, aka cosplayer Sophie Jouin, who also created the free pattern :)

Very dragony. I made two versions: after trying out a pair of gloves with the large pattern, I thought smaller dragons might look better, so I made a second pair for my sister in some fabulous multicolour blue yarn. The little dragons fit nicely on the back of the glove, and the big ones wrap around your hand a bit. Here they are, with patterns below:

To make the gloves, I used the Simple Mitts free pattern by Kitty Adventures: thanks for the great pattern! You’ll need 50g of fingering weight yarn and 2.25mm double-pointed needles. Although I’ve never knitted gloves before, I found the pattern easy to follow and I think they turned out very well (especially the second pair: my sister’s… I made a few mistakes on mine!)

The gloves are worked in the round, and the rounds where the dragon is made are all knit (no ribbing). Just purl every time you get to a dark square and you’ll make a dragon. Note that you’ll still need to knit around each round: the patterns below don’t cover the whole glove. You can put stitch markers where the dragon starts and ends to make life easier.

Big dragon pattern:

White squares for knit, dark squares for purl. Start the tail on round 21 of the Simple Mitts pattern. The thumb starts on round 41, and the top of the head finishes on round 60. I made the 2 gloves mirror-image, with the dragons both facing in towards the thumb, so I worked the dragon pattern left-to-right for one glove and right-to-left for the other (if this sounds confusing you could make them both the same). Don’t forget to put the thumb on opposite sides of the dragon!

Little dragon pattern:

White squares for knit, dark squares for purl. Start the tail on round 40 of the pattern (1 round before you start the thumb). The top of the head finishes on round 59. I made the 2 gloves mirror-image, with the dragons facing in towards the thumb, so I worked the dragon pattern left-to-right for one glove and right-to-left for the other (if this sounds confusing you could make them both the same). Don’t forget to put the thumb on opposite sides of the dragon!

Needlecraft is like meditation, only at the end you have a thing. A sailor-tattoo inspired latin embroidered thing, in this case.

No specific instructions here: just sketch out a design on paper, place it under your fabric and light it from beneath (to trace it onto the fabric with a pencil), and keep sewing until your stress goes away. You are welcome to use my design if you like it (CC BY-NC-SA yada yada).

Here it is in all its glory… as you know I have a soft spot for cuddly starships.

Gorgeous! She publishes all sorts of geeky patterns on her Ravelry page: lots of delightful Disney with a splash of Marvel, Potter, LOTR… and Farscape of course. My favourite pattern (not free, but quite reasonable at $2.99) is this squee-worthy Black Mage from Final Fantasy:

Thanks for sharing Jana!

]]>https://diygeekery.com/2014/12/15/guest-feature-farscape-moya-starship/feed/0ishouldg0Moya 1Moya 2Black MageYou Share Good – Gwenn Seemelhttps://diygeekery.com/2014/12/02/you-share-good-gwenn-seemel/
https://diygeekery.com/2014/12/02/you-share-good-gwenn-seemel/#respondTue, 02 Dec 2014 21:47:32 +0000http://diygeekery.wordpress.com/?p=914Makers, crafters, and creators of weird and wonderful things… you should read You Share Good by artist Gwenn Seemel. It’s both a free culture manifesto and a work of art in and of itself: a discussion of what it means to create and share, and a showcase of the artist’s bold and distinctive paintings.

Best of all, the whole book is free to read online. Look at me sharing it. Mwahahaha.

Her art is loud, joyful, and often irreverent. I love it. I also love her philosophy of sharing, remixing, setting your creations free and seeing them be shared and remixed in turn.

On that note the Bioware store is sold out of nugs and I’ve got the itch to make a new pattern…

I had scrap yarn left over from making these cozy legwarmers and decided to play around and come up with a new pattern. I’ve made octopi before but all the patterns I could find online were chibi… not that there’s anything wrong with that.

What you’ll need:

worsted weight yarn in whatever colour you want your octopus to be (Caron Simply Soft in Pagoda used here)

contrasting colour for suction cups, if you want to make suction cups (I used scrap pink fuzzy yarn of mysterious provenance)

size F/3.75mm crochet hook

15 mm safety eyes

yarn needle

The octopus is made in 2 pieces: top and bottom, which are sandwiched together with stuffing in the middle. The top and bottom of the legs don’t match perfectly: this is deliberate and makes them want to curl.

You have a head with a fluttery border. Now make legs, one at a time, working back and forth instead of in the round:

sc x 6 (aligns you to start the first leg) then…

***sc x12

turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 11

turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 10

ch 1, turn, sc x10 for 2 rows

turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 9

ch 1, turn, sc x 9

turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 8

ch 1, turn, sc x 8

turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 7

ch 1, turn, sc x 7

turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 6

ch 1, turn, sc x 6 for 3 rows

turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 5

ch 1, turn, sc x 5

turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 4

ch 1, turn, sc x 4

turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 3

ch 1, turn, sc x 3 for 7 rows

turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 2

ch 1, turn, sc x2

turn (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 1, FO and leave tail***

To make 7 more legs, flip your octopus over. Start with a sl st on the left side of previous leg (on underside), then repeat the leg pattern above from *** to ***. The top half is done.

Now start a new piece and make the bottom half, starting with the centre, working in the round:

1) 6 sc in magic ring (optional: use a contrasting colour for this round to make a mouth)

2) change to your regular colour, (inc) x 6 (12)

3) (inc, sc) x 6 (18)

4) (inc, sc x 2) x 6 (24)

5) (inc, sc x 3) x 6 (30)

6) (inc, sc x 4) x 6 (36)

7) (inc, sc x 5) x 6 (42)

8) (inc, sc x 6) x 6 (48)

9) (inc, sc x 7) x 6 (54)

You’ll have a hexagon with a mouth in the middle. Make the bottom of the first leg:

inc, sc x 6, inc along edge of bottom piece

ch 1, turn, sc x 8 (8) for 3 rows

turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 7 (7)

ch 1, turn, sc x 7 (7)

turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 6 (6)

ch 1, turn, sc x 6 (6)

turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 5 (5))

ch 1, turn, sc x 5 (5)

turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 4 (4)

ch 1, turn, sc x 4 (4)

turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 3 (3)

ch 1, turn, sc x 3 (3) for 7 rows

turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 2 (2)

ch 1, turn, sc x 2 (2) for 5 rows

turn, (don’t ch, skip 1st sc), sc x 1 (1)

ch 1, turn, sc x 1 (1) for 3 rows, FO and leave tail

Repeat this 7 more times around until you have 8 leg-bottoms.

You now have 2 pieces:

Attach the safety eyes. If you’re making suction cups, sew them to the bottom of the legs before you sew the octopus together. Suction cups are just 6 sc in a magic ring for the most proximal (then 5 sc, 4 sc, 3 sc for smaller ones), and french knots for the tiniest ones at the ends. Here’s a video tutorial for french knots if you’d like one.

Now all you need to do is sew the 2 pieces together, stuffing as you go. I’d suggest attaching the tips of the legs together first and working your way in (it’s easier to stuff that way).

I love Halloween but tend to procrastinate on costume-making. This year, my wonderful sister bought me robot pants as a birthday present (Mitmunk’s bionic leggings, they are well-made and comfy and glorious and I cannot recommend them enough if you are in need of robot pants. No one paid me to say that). I decided to paint on a bionic arm to complement the pants.

Disclaimer: I’ve never used body paint before. It’s fun as heck but make sure you take the same precautions as regular paint (wear old clothes, put a tarp/towel down, etc.)

The colours I used were Wolfe silver and black, and Mehron storm cloud (darker grey). I used a Quo makeup sponge and dollar-store paintbrush to apply the paint.

I was planning to wear this to hand out candy to the kids in my neighbourhood: is the bloody edge too scary? I think it looked better before I added red paint.

Not bad for a first attempt, but I definitely want to play around more. Plus, I’ll have to figure out a face design to match. I’m going to channel my inner Major Kusanagi and see what I can come up with…

Happy (almost) Halloween!

]]>https://diygeekery.com/2014/10/15/10-minute-cyborg-costume/feed/0ishouldg0Robot arm body paint 1Robot arm body paint 2Robot arm body paint 3Magnificent Makers: By Xilahttps://diygeekery.com/2014/10/10/magnificent-makers-by-xila/
https://diygeekery.com/2014/10/10/magnificent-makers-by-xila/#respondFri, 10 Oct 2014 14:18:32 +0000http://diygeekery.wordpress.com/?p=870You may have noticed by now that I don’t sell the things I make. Each project takes more time and work than I could possibly sell it for. Earning a living by creative work is tough business, and I have mad respect for all the makers of weird, wonderful, and geeky things who do.

I usually support independent makers by buying from them, but if you’re reading this blog you might have similar tastes. So, in an effort to signal boost some Magnificent Makers, I’ll be posting about them from time to time.

I was wandering the streets of Porto when I came across a street fair tucked into a secluded square (don’t worry, this isn’t turning into a travel blog):

Artists, crafters, musicians… almost everything being sold was made by the person selling it. Cold beer in hand (from the smart entrepreneur under that far red umbrella… it was a hot day), I had to stop at By Xila‘s table:

Marvel, onigiri, kitties… now I’m wishing I bought all of them.

Lego jewelry and keychains…

Even videocassette purses and audiocassette wallets…

Her prices were very reasonable… I’m kicking myself for not buying more of the felted brooches! If you don’t happen to live in Portugal, By Xila has an Etsy shop and Facebook page.

Love the red sunburst effect on the front, and the metallic accents. I’m a sucker for shiny things :)

Audrey also uses Mod Podge for her mixed media art with lovely results. Mod Podge is wonderful stuff… remember those X-men shoes and Vintage Book Grid-It I posted a while ago? This guitar makes me want to start playing with it again…

Just a caveat if you’re trying this project… if you cover the wood on an acoustic guitar it will affect the sound somewhat…

Thanks for sharing your project, Audrey!

]]>https://diygeekery.com/2014/10/05/guest-feature-comic-book-guitar/feed/1ishouldg0Annotated Audrey Wonder Woman guitarAnnotated Audrey Wonder Woman guitar 2Guest Feature: DIY Kamui Senketsu Shoeshttps://diygeekery.com/2014/09/07/diy-kamui-senketsu-shoes/
https://diygeekery.com/2014/09/07/diy-kamui-senketsu-shoes/#commentsSun, 07 Sep 2014 15:23:30 +0000http://diygeekery.wordpress.com/?p=854I was delighted to receive a request to feature this DIY pattern from Lace and Lore for a pair of Kill La Kill inspired shoes. While wearing an actual Kamui Senketsu would be chilly (bordering on illegal depending on where you live), these Kamui Senketsu shoes are a nice way to pay homage to anime without going full cosplay. Not that there’s anything wrong with cosplay! I personally like blending little geeky touches into my everyday wardrobe without being too obvious, and these shoes would look great with jeans and a tee.

Click the photo for a link to their tutorial. You’ll need shoes, fabric paint, and crafting supplies that you probably already own if you’re reading my blog (X-acto, masking tape etc.) I’m a big fan of all-black high-top Converse, and I’m wondering whether fabric paint works on rubber too…

While you’re at it, check out Lace and Lore’s site for more fabulous geek fashion.